Morphed Secrets- Chapter 4- Spooky Discoveries
*****Severus*****
Halloween, Severus's least favorite day of the year, had gone further to hell when damned Quirrell came screaming about that troll. What the hell was wrong with him? Clearly he was an incompetent fool, not even suited to the laughable Muggle Studies course he previously taught, and much less equipped to deal with potential danger or teaching children defense.
It was a slap in his face that the buffoon had been granted the position over Severus, though Severus hadn't cared about the position in years. What kind of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor wouldn't just go handle the damned troll himself? Or Quirrell could have at least send word in some way besides coming himself and fainting like the incompetent he was.
And then he had considered that perhaps it was deviousness rather than incompetence. The logical path was for Severus to check on the stone, making sure the defenses had not been breached, a poor idea as it turned out… and had a leg wound to prove it.
The dog bloody well hadn't been bothered. Severus didn't know how anyone could get past the thing, at least while leaving the monster intact, he thought uncharitably. A few blasting charms would have helped. Since the only blood he encountered during the endeavor was his own, Severus was assured that nothing else had crossed the door.
However, Severus did chance upon Quirinus, confirming his suspicions. A few pointed instructions insured that the spineless man would follow Severus away from the well-guarded place. After all, surely a troll in the castle was a problem for the Defense teacher to address, he pointed out, and Quirinus could hardly dispute that.
When the first mutterings from the paintings reached him, Severus took up a run, despite his throbbing leg and Quirrell still to deal with further. The portraits said that three first years had encountered the troll. Severus didn't need any second guesses to feel dreadfully confident that he knew who at least one of those first years would be.
Severus arrived in time to see the three children unharmed, next to an impressively unconscious mountain troll, a dozen feet tall at least. He stared at the beast as he heard the Granger girl spout a story about taking on the troll herself that was far too stupid on her part to be true. The little do-gooder would not have so blatantly broken the rules for no reason. No, that was the role of the two boys present. Severus almost couldn't believe that the boys were actually being rewarded for risking their necks. But he could believe it, really. Rash Gryffindors, all of them. Gryffindors were no different at eleven than seventy or a hundred and fifty for the old teachers that should have known better.
"Come with me," Severus instructed his miniature.
Both the Weasley and the Granger child looked like they would protest him taking the boy away, but the small child, so tiny next to the mountain troll, waved them off and followed Severus out the door, barely raising his eyes from the floor as they walked.
"You are- unharmed?" Severus started. He wanted to scream, berate the boy for scaring him so badly. But the boy had known that treatment all his life, it seemed, yelled at or worse, beaten. Different measures must be taken, he thought, using their mostly silent walk to the dungeons to plan.
"Yes, sir," Harry muttered.
When they arrived in his rooms, Severus sat on his sofa and indicated the arm chair for the child, "If you were faced with the same situation again, would you act any differently? Honestly now."
"I don't know sir," the child said quickly, terrified at his small defiance, "What could I have done? I couldn't just leave her there. I thought about getting help when I saw the troll- I really did, but it was after her and it was too late."
Severus sighed. The boy was honest at least. "There is usually action that can be taken before the situation escalates. Tell me, how did you know that Miss Granger would be hiding in a such a place, and why was she there rather than at the feast with the rest of the students?"
"Someone- someone told me that she had been in there all day um… crying after- someone said something mean to her."
"So," Severus deduced, "You said something to hurt her feelings and felt guilty," he said, probably badly concealing the emotions in his voice, thinking of the last time that he hurt a female classmate of his own. Oh, how things could have been different. He wouldn't have spent eleven years away from this child. Severus blinked, surprised that not being present for the child was the first result of that day that came to his mind. Guilt was a powerful motivator, surely.
So, if he was upset about missing the last eleven years, and terrified about the child's life being in danger, he should do something to help the boy now. There was no way that these were the thoughts of Severus Snape…
Severus almost missed the child's protests of, "No, I wouldn't do that- I- know what it's like to not have friends."
"No, of course," yes, Severus had been seeing lately that the boy was kinder at eleven than Severus had been at any age, "Then I suppose it was Mr. Weasley, but I do not really need to know. You will be nice to the girl from now on, yes? Give her the chance to be your friend."
At that advice, the shock on the boy's face was palpable. "I will sir. I already was going to. She was really nice to try to take the blame. It wasn't really her fault, but I guess you knew that. You won't be mad at her?" Harry asked, big green eyes slightly wet.
"No, child. All she did as far as I can tell was miss a dinner, and she seems to eat nutritiously enough to make up for it. She should probably be told that she should not have to lie or go against her beliefs to make real friends, but I am certainly not the one to talk to a first year Gryffindor girl about making friends," Severus sighed.
"What about Ron?" Harry asked. Harry. Harry wasn't a bad name. The boy could have been named worse.
"Yes, he should learn the same lesson that you will. I should, perhaps tell his parents," he said, and noted the child's horror.
Severus smiled, "I will give him that option, to have me tell his parents or to serve the same punishment as you."
"What is that?" Harry asked nervously.
"We're not there yet. You still do not believe that you have done anything incorrectly. Thus far you have only proven that you value your life as equal or lesser than your classmates. Which is a problem, but not one I will address at this time. Now, what did you do when you found that there was a troll loose in the castle and one of your classmates was not accounted for?"
The boy looked guilty, perhaps finally realizing his mistake. "I went to find Hermione."
"Did you think that you were better equipped to fight a troll than your prefects or teachers?" Severus nudged, feeling that the child deserved to squirm a while, and fighting down his own fear-ridden anger. The boy could have been killed. He could have died that easily, so soon after- everything that Severus had not handled as well as he could have.
"No- I just didn't think- much at all, I suppose," the child admitted.
"No. You didn't think, and acknowledging that is the first step. Lines then, three hundred should suffice," Severus said suddenly with a flick of his wand, bringing a piece of paper and magically writing the first line on the page. Severus handed it to Harry, "Read the line."
"My life has value. I will stop to think and exhaust all possibilities before blindly throwing my life away," the boy read, looking up at him curiously.
"And, I am taking those five points away from you. Not," he said quickly, "As further punishment, strictly speaking, but because you never should have been awarded house points for putting your life in danger when there were many safer alternatives. Understood?" There, he had been completely restrained. He hadn't hit the child, or done anything more than another teacher should have done, really.
"Yes sir," Harry said, smiling his- endearing smile again.
"And I will hold Mr. Weasley back after our next class to give him the same instructions, or I can speak to his parents over the matter."
"Yes sir."
"Now, run back to your common room. We will have a better visit, and perhaps a tour of sorts on a happier occasion. You didn't stay very long on your last visit either. And a game of chess sometime, I think," Severus said, thinking of another little plan. "And after both of you have turned in your lines," Severus said, because he was certain what the Weasley boy would choose, "we can speak again about your spare broom, yes?"
*****Severus*****
"Class dismissed. Mr. Weasley, come see me now," Severus stated, sure that the boy would know what was coming. He noted that the red head shared glances with the Granger girl as well as Harry. Harry had slipped his lines in with the homework assignment collected that morning. The youngest Weasley male stood before him, head held higher than Severus would have thought. Then again, this child had likely never suffered undeserved or extreme punishments, and had never truly feared adults.
"I assume you have been told your options?" Severus asked the child.
"Yes sir. I have my lines here," the child said, quickly holding out a piece of rolled parchment. "I hope it's okay that I did the same line as Harry. I thought maybe- I thought I needed to learn the same lesson."
Severus glanced at the sheet before nodding, "And I gather that there is a fresh start with Miss Granger?" he asked, conversation going so easily. Perhaps this particular Weasley was not as painfully unpleasant as expected.
"Yes sir," the young boy nodded. "I- I was wrong and I didn't mean to make her cry. I even told her so myself, and then I think she cried again, but not sad crying, I think- I didn't see, but I don't think she's mad at me anymore," the child finished.
"And your five points are being removed because it is improper to take such risks, especially blindly without pursuing other options first?"
"Yes sir," the child chimed again.
"Have you played much chess, Mr. Weasley?" Severus tried, taking a different tactic.
The child's eyes lit up, "Yes, all the time. I'm pretty good, really."
"So, if you maneuvered your army into a threatening position, what would you think of a player that sent a pawn carelessly into danger, when the threat could have easily been removed by say, a bishop, without even placing the bishop in peril?"
"I wouldn't think much of them, I suppose," the child admitted, before his eyes widened and he caught onto the purpose of the chastisement. "That's a really good- um comparison sir. You're a bishop then?"
"Run off before you are late for your next class," Severus admonished.
"Thank you," the child said softly, though backing away from the desk, "I got the idea that Harry didn't have much good stuff in his life before coming here. And those lines were good ones that meant something, not just punishment. I- we're both really sorry," the child said before taking off out the door, saving Severus from having to respond.
*****Harry*****
Harry stood at the entrance to… Professor Snape's quarters, especially nervous after his last visit there, wondering if he should supply the password he had been given and walk in, ask the portrait to fetch the man, or stand there stupidly waiting for him to arrive or leave his rooms. He might not even be in there. Harry had no idea where the man might spend his time after classes before dinner. But he had sworn to Ron that he would try to pick up the spare Nimbus today, since it had been a week since they were last in trouble, and Ron had received a very long message from his parents that did include their permission, and quite a bit of words worrying about Harry. Not a word about the troll though, so they must not have been told. Ron had even offered to come with Harry, but Harry though that… Professor Snape might be happier without seeing any of Harry's friends anywhere near his quarters.
"Can you- get Professor Snape for me?" Harry asked the portrait politely despite his nerves. The portrait of a disgruntled middle-aged witch in a really old-fashioned robe stared at him silently, almost still enough to be a muggle portrait except for a few huffs and blinks. "Blood-root?" Harry said, finally. The portrait door did swing open to allow him in.
"Sir?" Harry called out, unwilling to even take a step inside.
The tall figure appeared, somewhat less imposing without his stuffy teacher's garb, but in a jumper and slacks, though both were still black.
"Don't gawp and leave the door open. I would have changed the password if I had been against your using of it, he said, whirling around. Harry found himself inside with the portrait door closed behind him.
"The portrait wouldn't tell you I was here or talk to me," Harry said the first words that came to him.
"Salazar's first wife, Lady Slytherin," Snape said as if that was an explanation. After a pause he continued, "The original portrait painted near the end of her lifetime but animated far after it, brilliantly but imperfectly. She cannot speak or leave her frame, nor can the other portraits enter hers, but she can function as a doorway. It's just as well; from all accounts she was not very pleasant by anyone's estimation except for Slytherin's himself."
"His first wife?" Harry couldn't stop himself from asking, "So he had a second?"
"Lady Slytherin had been from all appearances barren for many years before finally conceiving a child. However, from the most reliable records, neither mother nor child survived the birth. Salazar remarried another, much younger witch years later for the purpose of having a son, due to the importance in the society of having an heir. The first child was a male, and they had no others. He likely didn't much care for the witch so much his junior. Not much is known about her except that she was a pureblood witch who had been his student in his house before he left the castle. They married shortly after her graduation, which would have made her approximately fifteen years old, unprofessional but deemed not scandalous at the time, as witches married as young as twelve."
Harry stood silently, wondering if those facts were in Hogwarts, A History that Hermione would go on about, or if Binn's lectures could be as interesting if Harry gave them a chance. Mostly though, he was wondering if Snape had ever wanted an heir, especially now. He'd called Harry that, to McGonagall, and it sounded almost as good to Harry as being called a son.
"Why did he leave the castle?" Harry persisted, relating so much to that story in the moment, even if his life wasn't really anything like that.
"It is said that he protested the allowance of muggleborn witches and wizards into the castle, and left when the other three founders would not agree to disallow them entrance," Snape said, seeming more tired than he had been before.
"My mother was a muggleborn," Harry said, the fact seeming too important to ignore, but hoping that he wasn't pushing his temperamental professor.
"She was," Snape said calmly, though his eyes held some rather unpleasant emotion. "If you are insinuating that being the Head of Slytherin House means that I share all of the opinions of a man dead for nearly a thousand years, you are mistaken," the man said. "Nor is that true of all who are sorted into the house. It is also worth remembering that those biases can exist in other houses at times."
"I didn't mean..." Harry said before he stopped, not even sure how to say what he didn't mean. He mostly didn't want his…. Professor to be mad at him.
"It doesn't matter," The older wizard supplied. "You are an inquisitive child and I endeavor to not needlessly stifle desire to learn. You will doubtless require quite a bit of education that is not strictly speaking in any class curriculum. A tour of my quarters then? Seems appropriate given your ability to enter at will," he offered, but it wasn't really a question.
"How do your students get you if they can't talk to your portrait?" Harry asked.
The tall man raised an eye brow, "Do you know the way to Professor McGonagall's quarters?"
"No," Harry admitted, feeling foolish. Where his Head of House lived had never even come up.
"No, you wouldn't. A student has not entered my quarters before, and I doubt that any have entered Professor McGonagall's. Prefects have ways to contact us, including an augmented floo where they can speak to but not access my study. Head Boys and Girls usually try to master a Patronus charm for an additional means of communication, though not all are successful. House Elves can always find us if the need is dire, and prefects have permission to call them, though the privilege can be revoked if abused." Snape explained, making little sense to Harry.
Harry hesitated before asking any more questions about the nonsense that Snape just spoke, still wondering that questions were seemingly encouraged by the gruff man. He was pretty sure that he wouldn't receive a clouting for asking anyway.
"What did you not understand, b- child?" Snape asked.
"Ah- talking by floos, patronus, and house elves," Harry recited quickly, hating to admit how much he didn't know.
The man sighed. "I shouldn't be surprised, raised by Petunia after all. Sit," he said, indicating. Harry began debating if he would rather hear about the magical communication or about however much the professor knew about his aunt or how he did. That wasn't necessarily the type of question that would be as readily answered though, Harry thought.
Harry sat in the indicated armchair, and Snape sat on the sofa.
"The Floo Network, f-l-o-o, not f-l-u-e, is a connection of magical fireplaces regulated by a division of the Ministry. Complete transportation from one place to another is most common, but can be limited, as it is in the castle. Floo powder, which is in the little bag by the fireplace, is needed for such travel, and you will not try it on your own. Sticking one's head in an active floo will cause only your head to appear at the destination for communication without major security breach, so it is allowed in the castle. However, Head of Houses' floos are set in such a way that students could speak without being able to see inside the room," Snape explained.
"Patronus charms," He continued, "Are a very advanced piece of magic used generally as protection against certain dark creatures, but can also be utilized for communication when the need arises. I would wager that none of your year in Gryffindor have heard of such a charm, even Miss Granger, so you should not feel behind in that way.
"House elves," The man sighed, "Are more difficult to explain. They amount to slaves, more or less, though they are extraordinarily powerful creatures when they wish to use their talents for more than cleaning and the like. They are short, somewhat resembling goblins, which you would have met?" Snape asked, waiting for Harry's nod before continuing. "It does not sit well with muggle sensibilities that the castle is more or less kept running by slaves, and it is not mentioned around the castle very often, perhaps for that reason. The only real defense of the practice is that they are only happy with their work and as a rule would typically rather die than be set free. They are well respected and well treated by the Hogwarts staff, though that is not the case in all wizarding families that might own them. Shall we continue with our tour?" The professor asked.
"I- yes sir. And Ron received word from his parents that he could ride the broom. Whenever you are ready of course. They thank you very much," Harry added, hoping it sounded respectful. He and Ron had already been talking about whether or not they should let another Gryffindor on the team use it for practice and games, but no one on the team, not even the twins, had mentioned it.
" You may gather it at the end of your visit," he said and indicated the room they were standing in. "The study, or lounge, you are- welcome in, so long as you have no ulterior purposes. If you do decide to focus on scholarly efforts, you may ask about any of the books in the room, though many would not be suitable for a number of years, and most are not to leave these rooms, or I will be aware. The rooms on the left have been converted into connecting supply closets and my personal lab. Perhaps- when you are a bit older they may be of more interest. To the center, my rooms, which include my bedroom, a private bath, and a smaller study that I seldom use. And now, your room, as you have seen before, is to the right. If you are in need of a- place apart from the masses of the castle, it is yours, though your primary residence will remain in your dormitory, as is- customary for professors'- descendants, though that has not been relevant for a number of years. Would you like to see the lab.
"Yes, sir," Harry answered.
"Caldrons, ingredients, notes from my personal research, when I have times for such endeavors," he pointed out. It did look very nice, Harry thought.
"What about the animals?" Harry asked, indicating the cages that seemed to contain primarily different types of rodents, but Harry could see an elegant striped snake.
"They are- assistants in my experiments, at times providers of ingredients and test subjects in the strictest of terms, but they are respected and treated carefully, only utilized in final stages of testing when success is relatively certain, and only in those where the species crossover is likely to be minimal. And certainly not test subjects of anything made by a student. They, however, are not pets."
While Snape talked, Harry moved closer to the very pretty snake and tried to get its attention to see if it talked like the one in the zoo.
"Is he nice to you?"Harry asked the snake quietly.
The snake was focused only on him now, "Yes, strange speaker, I am well cared for."
"I'm Harry, who are you?"
"I cannot say it, but it is the same name as the man in the picture,"
Harry craned his neck around and found a non-moving portrait that was very helpfully labeled "Salazar Slytherin," typical, he thought.
"Does he really do experiments on you?"Harry asked.
"No, only on the squeaking food. I do not usually get to eat those ones afterwards."
*****Severys*****
"Are you listening?" Severus asked, rising tension. At least the boy didn't seem repelled by snakes, but he was highly distractible. The hissing and tapping the glass seemed more likely behavior for a boy younger than eleven.
The boy actually giggled and uttered, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to hear from Salazar too."
Severus could only stare at the boy. Was the child crazy? But- he hadn't said anything about the snake's name. Not that it really had a name. Severus had never said the name aloud to anyone besides the snake. He wasn't a man that kept pets. If he talked to the animal occasionally, well… It wasn't like Severus was crazy enough to expect him to respond. Salazar was a bit of a special one, owned since his Hogwarts days when he thought that naming a snake after the founder of his house was the obvious best choice. He hadn't said the snake's name, but the boy knew it.
"Did you talk to the snake, boy?" Severus said, telling himself that it wasn't in a panic. He winced himself when he saw the child startled, particularly at being called "boy." Severus knew that he would need to be careful with that, but he wasn't practiced in caring about what he called children.
"I'm sorry. Am I not supposed to? I mean, yes sir. I'm sorry," Harry said, looking at the ground. Ashamed, or scared.
"I am not angry, child," Severus said, mind reeling. Was the child really a Parseltongue? Could it have been because of the- interaction with the Dark Lord? Because Lilly or Potter never- dammit, Potter wasn't even the boy's father. Severus was the one mentally off. "What did the snake say?" he asked, trying for a semblance of calm.
"Didn't you hear him? I didn't mean to talk when you were still talking. I'm sorry."
The boy needed more back bone. How had he thought that this child was arrogant? "I cannot speak to snakes. Now, what did he say?"
"I-" the boy was surprised. "He said that you take good care of him, and his name was the same as the portrait, and you only do experiments on- I think it's mice. He said the squeaking food," Harry finished nervously.
"Ask him something else," Severus instructed. This would be a complicated ability for the boy to deal with. Others would be suspicious, saying the child was destined to be a dark wizard because of it.
Severus watched, listened, to his miniature hiss. And then Salazar did respond.
"Well?" Snape asked more gently, he hoped, throat gone dry.
"I asked him how long you've had him, and I think he meant since you'd been at Hogwarts as a student. He said he was hand-sized and you were young but not as small as me," Harry recounted, smiling again. Of course he wasn't that small. Severus hadn't been nearly as small as Harry as a first year, and he got Salazar in his third.
"Have you spoken to snakes before, Harry?" Severus asked.
The child smiled. Severus needed to remember to use the child's name more, rather than "child" or "boy."
"Sort of. I talked to one at the zoo, and he seemed to listen. And- he told me thanks at the end, after I guess I let him out, but I swear I didn't mean to. Dudley pushed me and Iwasmad and theglassvanishedandthesnakegotout, and he had always been in a cage and he just wanted to be in the wild," Harry said, speaking quickly, looking at his shoes.
This child was in far too complicated of a situation, his previous home life even more troubling than his strange revelation of yet another power. "Did your aunt and uncle blame you for this occurrence? Did one of them strike you?" the wizard asked slowly.
"No," The child said quickly. "Or, not hard. Or. I mean, I would get punished, because they knew it was me that did it, but I didn't know it was me. I guess I thought it was me because freaky stuff always happened around me, but I didn't know how, so I couldn't stop it or do anything about it. I think that time I was just locked in my cupb- in my room. But I wouldn't do it again because I know about magic now," the child spouted.
There was something that Severus hadn't considered before, though he should have, knowing Petunia as well as he did. "You didn't know about magic growing up. Your aunt never told you." It wasn't even a question; it hardly needed to be after that little speech. "And you spent your childhood punished for things that you could not control."
"I- yes sir."
"And you have been told many things now. You know about the- man who killed your mother, yes?" Severus wasn't prepared for this conversation, or really any of the talks he needed to have with the boy. There was no parenting guide that covered this.
"Yeah, Hagrid told me about Lord Voldemort," Severus couldn't stop the flinch. Another discussion. "He didn't like saying the name either. I'm sorry, I didn't know you would mind. I guess lots of people don't like to hear it."
"Those in the generations above you have many and varied reasons for not wanting to hear that name."
"And what is yours?" Harry asked before clapping his hands around his mouth. The little child.
"Harry, I would like to delay that conversation for a time. There are other matters to address presently. I am not trying to hide the past from you exactly, but there are some things not quite fit for eleven-year-old ears, and many other things that are important for you to learn first. However, if you hear of something that bothers you, you may ask me. Is that acceptable for this time?"
"Yes sir," Harry answered, and he didn't seem upset, only curious.
"Come and sit, child," Severus said, leading the boy out of the lab and back towards the comfortable arm chair. The child's legs were barely hanging off the chair when he first tried leaned against the back of it. The child scooted forward again so that his knees could bend, toes still dangling above the floor. Severus imagined that the child's toes would not touch the floor in even the school seats, the desks that upper year students frequently enlarged because they were meant for smaller children.
"Two things you need to know. You evidently possess the unusual ability to speak with serpents," Severus paused. The next was more difficult. "Secondly, and more importantly… you were not treated adequately by your guardians. You were under fed, under nurtured, and likely mistreated in other ways."
The boy looked surprised and confused, but Severus pressed on, "Significant discussion does not have to take place at this moment, and Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey may be present if you wish. Do you understand that you will not be treated like that again? You will not be struck, starved, or- and I will attempt to take care in choosing my words from this point forward. Do you understand?"
"I- understand. I eat in the Great Hall and- everything. But for summers... I'll have to go home, and the Dursleys wouldn't-. It's not that bad, I mean. They just don't know how to deal with fre- with magic, I guess."
Oh, this child pained the heart that a decade of students would profess did not exist. "Harry, do you imagine that every muggleborn, that your new friend, Hermione Granger, was locked away or withheld food whenever she performed a bout of accidental magic?"
"They wouldn't. They wouldn't would they? They couldn't do that to her." The defiant eyes and expression at the thought of another child being harmed was enough to assure Severus that the child did actually know what was inappropriate treatment for a child. Harry just didn't expect to be treated properly himself.
"There has been no indication that Miss Granger is anything but cherished and praised by her parents. Your grandparents- they were the same with your mother," Severus said quietly, immediately drawing the focus of large green eyes, impossibly large for the small child.
"They didn't think she was a freak?" Harry let slip out. "My mum?"
"No child," Severus said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. Surprisingly, he found that the anger was on behalf of the treatment of the boy, more so than from the idea that the woman he had loved for so long would have been considered a freak by anyone.
"But they died, before Dudley was born. Because Dudley only had Uncle Vernon's parents that live in the south, and Aunt Marge who comes to visit sometimes."
"Yes, they died in Lily's seventh year, a muggle car crash, I am afraid."
"That's what they said happened to my p- to my mum. Said they were drunks and got themselves killed," Harry said, and Severus saw tears collecting in those emerald eyes.
Severus remained calmer than he would have thought possible in the situation. The boy needed tranquility. "Anything Petunia said to you was nothing but bitter jealousy from a woman who made herself old before her time, who wanted to be a witch herself in her youth. Don't remember a word that ever came from that vile woman or whatever oaf she married, understand? You won't go back to them, ever, do you hear me?" Severus promised, barely knowing what he was saying himself. He was utterly ill-equipped to handle this.
"Aunt Petunia wanted to be a witch? And where will I stay? I know I can stay over Christmas, but Professor McGonagall says that everyone goes home for summer."
"You will stay in your rooms here," Severus said with boldness he didn't feel. "Or perhaps it could be arranged for you to stay in the tower if you prefer. It is long enough away that it need not be discussed at this moment," he said in a rush, sure that the child would be more horrified about spending a summer in his company than returning to his likely abusers.
"I can really stay here? In my room?" the child asked, not seeming to notice the two drops that had escaped those bright green eyes.
"Yes. That is what I said, and I do my best to keep my word. Perhaps a little rest in your bed now before dinner?" Severus suggested lightly. He felt the growing urge to grab a drink himself, but knowing that he couldn't with the boy in his rooms. The child nodded, sliding off the chair and walking towards the door to his own room.
"And for talking to snakes. It is a very special gift, and you may talk to Salazar whenever you like. However, some are superstitious surrounding the ability, so I do not advise sharing that information with anyone else. If you would like to share it at some point with your two little friends, make sure that you trust them completely first and that they understand the same guidelines, and that you are not overheard. Yes?"
The tired looking little boy nodded and shut the door gently behind him, peeking back at Severus before letting the door close. Severus listened at the door, but he didn't hear the sounds of more crying. He stood there long enough that he felt sure that the completely silent boy must have fallen asleep, before turning and collapsing into his favorite armchair that the child had vacated.
A/N: To a particularly kind anonymous reviewer, I so regretted that you didn't have an account or didn't list it so I couldn't thank you personally, but thank you so much for your words, telling me that my story was good and I shouldn't be bothered or want to change my whole story because of a negative review. Thank you to everyone else as well who has left such wonderful reviews. I do appreciate and respond to them all.
Edited Feb 2017.